2 year transplant annivesary

Someone is celebrating her 2 year heart transplant anniversary today!!  I feel like we should be throwing a huge celebration for her and for me and Brian as well.  Man, have we earned it!  This whole transplant thing can really chew you up and spit you out, so each anniversary is a BIG DEAL.  But, since we are broke we will be throwing a simple family party.  Even though it has been two years, the fact that Dahlia has a heart transplant is still surreal at times.  The generosity and kindness of complete strangers, who gave my daughter a second chance at life, still brings tears to my eyes and reminds me there are still really kind, compassionate people in this world.  I am so thankful to have this special, brave girl still with us today.

spelling bee

Aiden won third place at his school's spelling bee!  He was so proud of the trophy he won.

christmas break part 2

One of the days during Christmas break we went to see the Battleship Texas and the San Jacinto Monument.  I hadn't been there in a long time so it was fun to see it again and have the kids see a bit of Texas history.  I had forgotten how tall and steep those ladders on the battleship were!  Luckily, everyone made it off the ship without any accidents.

Christmas break Part 1

We had a great Christmas break.  We spent a week at my parents house.  My parents had just returned home from their church mission and all of their eight kids were there, except for my brother, who is expecting a baby soon.  It was wonderful to spend lots of time with everyone.  My kids had lots of fun getting to know their cousins Saige and Colby, who they hadn't seen in about three years. One of the days we were there we went to the park.